ASERTTI News

The
ASERTTI
Fall Meeting will be held October 10-12 in Seattle, WA.
Hosted by Washington State University’s Energy Program and
the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the meeting is
shaping up to be an outstanding event, including
presentations from leading energy researchers, networking
opportunities, and off-site activities. Event
highlights include focused discussion sessions on: smart
grid, energy storage, bioenergy, high performance buildings,
waste heat recovery, and advanced manufacturing. Experts
from Boeing, the California Energy Commission, Ingersoll
Rand, NEEA, EPRI, the WSU Energy Program, and the Pacific
Northwest National Laboratory, among others, will share the
latest trends in research and technology at the Fall
Meeting.

The California Energy Commission unanimously approved
funding of $582,000 for the development of two compressed
natural gas fueling facilities and for buy-downs of
alternative-fuel vehicles. The awards are made through
the Energy Commission's Alternative and Renewable Fuel and
Vehicle Technology Program, created by Assembly Bill 118.
The program provides approximately $100 million annually to
encourage the development and use of new technologies and
alternative and renewable fuels, with the goal of reducing
dependence on foreign oil, improving the environment and
fulfilling the state's pioneering climate change policies.
It is funded through a small surcharge on vehicle and
boating registration and smog check fees. The Energy
Commission's AB118 investments on behalf of the public are
safeguarded by adhering to payouts on a reimbursement basis,
and by requiring match funding that leverages other private
and public funding, attracting additional investment in
clean-energy technology.

The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) announced a
three-year collaboration with the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) to promote public benefit research into
nuclear power plant development, operation, decommissioning,
and waste disposal. The collaboration also will enable
technical engagement on issues regarding nuclear plant
development in countries initiating commercial nuclear power
programs. Among the technical areas of engagement are:

Post-Fukushima risk and safety evaluation

Nuclear power plant aging and materials degradation

Digital instrumentation and controls technology

Nuclear waste characterization and disposal
technologies

Advanced nuclear fuel technologies

Capacity building for new owners and expanding
countries

Key collaboration mechanisms will include the sharing of
information on commercial nuclear energy, organization of
joint workshops and training seminars, and publication of
joint reports and guidelines.

NYSERDA recently announced the “Buy Green, Save Green
Rebates for New York State Local Governments” program, which
is making $1.1 million available to encourage small
municipal governments to replace inefficient appliances and
equipment with energy-efficient models. The program begins
Sept. 25, 2012.

The rebates will pay 75 percent of
the purchase price of eligible products, which include
ENERGY STAR® refrigerators, dehumidifiers, commercial
dishwashers, room air conditioners, imaging equipment
(including copiers and fax machines; digital duplicators;
printers, scanners and all-in-one devices; and mailing
machines), as well as compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs)
and light emitting diode light bulbs (LEDs) in quantities of
10 or more. Advanced power strips in quantities of two or
more will also be eligible for the rebate. Since there is no
ENERGY STAR designation for power strips, a list of eligible
power strips is posted on
www.nysappliancerebates.com.

The $1.1 million
includes funding from a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) award
received by New York State to stimulate energy efficiency in
small municipalities and a DOE State Energy Program (SEP)
award, which provides financial and technical assistance to
states through formula and competitive grants.

Single-issue advocates were rare, with just 3.1% of
respondents allocating all of their effort toward one
goal.

Single-issue adversaries were also few, with less
than 15% of respondents completely devaluing any one
goal.

Male respondents tended to emphasize Energy Supply
Security more heavily with increasing age and to
de-emphasize the environment with age.

Female respondents prioritized the Environment most
highly, regardless of age.

Energy Supply Security rated highest among
respondents from Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and
Texas; Environment and Climate was given the highest
priority in the Pacific and New England regions; and
compared with other regions, Economics and Job Creation
was a higher priority in the Midwest.

Fifty eight percent of respondents indicated that
Economics, Energy Supply Security, and the Environment
are the goals of energy policy, i.e. what energy policy
should be geared toward accomplishing. Forty two percent
offered another, self-selected goal; but even among this
population the interest in balanced, simultaneous
pursuit of policy goals was expressed.

NATIONAL NEWS

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the start
of a new competition to make it faster, easier, and cheaper
to install rooftop solar energy systems. As part of the
SunShot Initiative, the SunShot Prize makes a total of $10
million in cash awards available to the first three teams
that repeatedly demonstrate that non-hardware costs, or
price to plug in, can be as low as $1 per watt (W) for
small-scale photovoltaic (PV) systems on American homes and
businesses. This ambitious target represents a decrease in
the "soft costs" of solar energy systems—including
permitting, licensing, connecting to the grid and other
non-hardware costs—by more than 65%. By breaking a
significant price barrier that was considered unachievable
only a decade ago, the winning teams will demonstrate that
solar energy is an affordable solution for American families
and businesses. Visit the
SunShot Prize website for complete registration and
competition details.

According to a report in Bloomberg News, lithium demand,
seen doubling in the next eight years on sales of batteries
used in electric vehicles, is spurring a U.S. company to
build a factory to extract the metal from brine in
California. Simbol Materials LLC’s proposed Imperial
Valley plant near the Mexican border would slash the time
and cost needed to extract lithium from salty water, Chief
Executive Officer Luka Erceg said in an interview. According
to the article, the closely held, Pleasanton,
California-based company may boost output from an initial
8,000 tons a year to as much as 64,000 tons by the end of
the decade, Erceg said, equal to 21 percent of projected
global demand. Simbol is among prospective lithium
producers that are trying to break into a market dominated
by four companies including Princeton, New Jersey-based
Rockwood Holdings Inc. The price of the lightest
metal, used to make long-lasting batteries for laptops,
power tools and now electric vehicles, jumped 35 percent in
18 months, according to Jonathan Lee, an analyst at Byron
Capital Markets in Toronto.

According to a report in Bloomberg News, technology
developers are shuttling between caves and mountaintops to
build a market for utilities set to attract $25 billion in
annual investment within a decade. To store surplus
electricity from power plants, they’re trying to squeeze air
into salt mines and run empty trains up hills, testing how
to harness the energy released when the air bursts out and
the cars roll back down. Trials are under way at companies
from Germany’s Siemens AG and RWE AG to General Electric Co.
and a startup backed by billionaire Bill Gates, which is
experimenting with the momentum of ski lifts.

The $260 billion renewables industry needs storage so power
companies can absorb surges from solar and wind farms from
Texas to Mongolia. The devices will be key for plans by
Germany to shift Europe’s biggest electricity market from
atomic energy, said Gil Forer, Ernst & Young LLP’s
clean-tech head in New York. The consulting firm said
annual investment in storage is currently about $2.6
billion, based on data from Pike Research. That’s set to
grow to $9.2 billion in 2015 and then to $25 billion by
2021. Logan said Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE expects
energy storage to generate $500 million to $1 billion in
annual revenue by 2020. Brad Roberts, executive
director of the Electricity Storage Association in
Washington, said the business in the U.S. alone may grow to
$5 billion within five years.

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